Connecticut Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Daniel Schwartz : Stamford, Hartford New Haven, CT

Today's shooting at a Kentucky plastics plant that killed five people is yet another reminder that employers need to continue to be vigilant in preventing workplace violence.

This year marked the 10-year-anniversary of one of the most infamous workplace violence incidents in Connecticut -- the shooting at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters.  

As I indicated in a report from March, in hindsight, the employee exhibited signs of stress before the incident, even writing an angry letter to officials in the weeks prior.

The early reports from the Kentucky shooting lack details on the employee's past history, but I would be very surprised if the employee didn't have another lesser incident at the workplace prior to the shooting.  Unfortunately, to suggest that the incident could have been "avoided" falls within the Monday-morning quarterbacking purview.

So, after this incident, what can employers consider to reduce the risk of workplace violence?

• Provide training to employees.  Recognizing the signs of potential workplace violence is crucial to any prevention campaign. Teach employees of the "warning signs" to look for and ensure that employees are sensitive to this area.
• Encourage an "open door" policy. Much like New York Transit's "If you see something, say something" slogan, the employer should encourage employees to report potential safety risks or unusual behavior. 
• Don't be afraid to contact the police.  Some employers take the view that they can handle a matter "internally".  Resist the urge. Contact law enforcement when appropriate; they may already have information on the subject that would help with an existing case or have knowledge of a prior history.  Obviously, not all incidents rise to that level, but some do.
• Take incidents seriously.  While some employers have instituted "zero tolerance" policies, a one-size-fits-all policy may not be appropriate. Employers should consider what type of approach they want to take to workplace violence incidents or incidents of lesser severity that still indicate a problem.  Employers should immediately respond to such incidents when they happen. 

There are plenty of resources available to employers out there including information available on OSHA's website. 

Other blogs have already started discussing the case from an employment perspective as well including EmployeescreenIQ blog, and Michael's Moore's detailed recap on the Pennsylvania Labor & Employment Law blog. 

For some additional background on states that have implemented laws that may make it more difficult for employers to ban guns on the workplace, such as Georgia, see The Word on Employment Law's take on it.   Lastly, from January, there was an interesting article about using harassment restraining orders as a tool to reduce workplace violence that is also worth a read.

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In small states like Connecticut, at times it feels like everyone is separated by something less than Six Degrees. 

Ten years ago today, a troubled worker walked into the headquarters for the Connecticut Lottery and shot and killed four top lottery officials, before turning the gun on himself.  Although I didn't know anyone personally, others that I worked with did.

The New York Times article the day after the shooting tells a story that is as haunting and chilling today as it was ten years ago:

Angered about a salary dispute and his failure to win a promotion, a Connecticut Lottery accountant reported promptly to his job this morning, hung up his coat and then methodically stabbed and gunned down four of his bosses, one of whom he chased through a parking lot, before turning the gun on himself.

As the shots rang out through the hallways of the lottery headquarters here in this quiet Hartford suburb, witnesses and the police said, dozens of employees, some yelling, ''Run to the woods,'' headed into the brushy hillside surrounding the office while others dived into nearby ditches.

The gunman, Matthew Beck, 35, had walked into the executive offices, stabbed and shot one top official and shot two others -- saying ''bye-bye'' to one of them -- and then chased the State Lottery president, Otho R. Brown, several hundred yards into a parking lot. Mr. Brown, 54, stumbled as he ran, the police said, and just as officers arrived on the scene, they saw Mr. Beck fire a semiautomatic handgun at the executive, killing him immediately.

Within seconds, as two Newington police detectives approached Mr. Beck, he put the gun, a 9-millimeter Glock, to his right temple and shot himself, said John Connelly, the head of the state police.

In addition to Mr. Brown, the other victims were three of the most senior managers at the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, a quasi-public authority: Linda Mlynarczyk, 37, chief financial officer, of New Britain; Frederick Rubelmann 3d, 40, vice president of operations, of Southington, and Michael Logan, 33, information systems manager, of Colchester.

The Hartford Courant, in fact, won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of that event.  In light of headlines each month about various shootings at workplaces around the country, it seems foolish to suggest that this particular shooting led to massive changes here. But I think for many, it did change the way we think about workplace violence issues.

In hindsight, the employee exhibited signs of stress before the incident, even writing an angry letter to officials in the weeks prior.  After this incident, I'm certain there were some employers who took any threat by an employee much more seriously.  I'm not suggesting that more should've been done beforehand (I don't know enough about it to judge), but I do think that employers in the state were re-awakened to the need to have and enforce workplace violence policies.  Employee Assistance Programs seemed more prominent and discussions about guns in the workplace followed. 

Others have written about workplace violence policies and suggestions to follow. But on today's anniversary (on which the Governor has suggested a moment a silence at 8:45 a.m.), perhaps the best thing we all can do is simply to recall the events of that horrible day and resolve that the lessons learned from that day won't be forgotten.

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